The Puppet or the Crow?
by NikittyKat
Summary: Marissa, Alissa, and Nikita are kidnapped by the Akatsuki


Sunlight poured into the house through the open window, flooding the kitchen and creating patterns on the white walls. Quietly, I opened the silverware drawer and pulled out a chopstick, using it to stir my peppermint green tea. Walking the short distance to the dining table, I pulled out an old wooden chair and sat down, cradling the warm teacup in my freezing hands. I sat in the dining room for quite some time, sipping my tea and waiting for my friends to wake up.

Marissa came down first around an hour later, already dressed and finished with her hair and makeup. She was only slightly shorter than me, with chin-length brown hair, deep brown eyes, and skin that was significantly darker than my own, but still pretty pale. She made a beeline for the box of donuts that had been sitting open on the counter, selecting one and beginning to munch on it as she slid into the chair across from me.

"You can only have one," I told her, taking another sip out of my second cup of tea. "Or you'll get sick, remember?"

She scowled at me, biting off a particularly large chunk of her donut. "No, Nikita, I don't remember," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Give me a break. If you were allergic to milk, you'd still be eating a lot of dairy products too, so shut up." I laughed. She was right, and I knew it.

"Seriously, though," I told her, the remnants of a smile still on my face. "Don't make yourself sick."

Marissa rolled her eyes, finishing off the last of her donut. "Yes, Mom." She sighed, propping her chin up on her right hand. Just then, we heard footsteps coming down the staircase. Alissa practically stumbled into the dining room, sleepily wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Marissa mocked, leaning back in her chair. But seriously, how does your hair not get messed up when you sleep?"

Alissa's straight, shoulder-length blond hair was already perfect, with the exception of a few wisps that were floating around here and there. She narrowed her blue eyes in annoyance. "That would be because it's so dang straight," she said, tugging on a strand of hair. She turned to me, an exasperated expression on her pale face. "I want your hair, Nikita!" she complained, pulling out the chair beside me.

My golden-brown curls, which tumbled to my waist, were the source of quite a bit of the blonde's complaining. Whenever I complained about what a pain it was to brush my hair out, she would always look at me like I was crazy and begin ranting about how lucky I was and how she'd kill to have hair like mine. "Sorry, Alissa," I said. "But I think I'd prefer to keep my hair. Why don't you steal Marissa's?"

"It's too short," she replied, without even looking at her. "And you have more of it in general." She smiled, walking over to my pantry and grabbing the box of chocolate cereal that I saved specially for her visits.

"So, what are we planning on doing today?" Marissa asked after a few minutes of silence, fidgeting in her seat a little.

I walked over to the sink, rinsing out my mug and setting it on the counter. "Well," I began, wiping my hands on the kitchen towel. "We have several options. We could take a walk around the neighborhood, we could watch TV, we could make another Akatsuki base on Minecraft, or we could go out back and shoot stuff." By 'stuff' I meant the target, but saying 'shoot the target' was never nearly as fun as saying 'shoot stuff'.

Alissa perked up immediately. "Ooh, let's shoot stuff! Please? I've only ever gotten to once, and that was, like, three years ago!"

Marissa didn't appear to be interested in the least. "You guys go ahead, since Alissa seems so excited," she said. "I think I'll just stay in here and watch TV or something."

"I'll let you use my Kindle to continue building whatever it is you're building on Minecraft," I said, standing at the base of the stairs. "If you at least come outside with us."

She appeared to think it over for a moment, scratching her head. Finally, she let out an extremely exaggerated sigh. "Fine," she said, making a show of crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "I guess I can force myself to play Minecraft for your sakes." Dropping the act, she jumped up and down with excitement, clapping her hands like a child. "Now where's the Kindle?"

I laughed, nodding my head towards the stairs. "It's in my room, on my desk." Marissa squealed, wasting no time in dashing up the old wooden staircase, pushing me out of the way and nearly tripping on the last step. I turned to Alissa, who was grinning and rinsing out her cereal bowl. "We should probably get dressed, if you want to shoot." I told her, starting up the stairs after Marissa.

I finished climbing the stairs and walked down the short hallway to my room, where Marissa was digging through my closet. "Hey, can I wear this? She asked, pulling a pink t-shirt from the back. It was sparkly, with a picture of a unicorn running on a rainbow on the front. I'd had no idea that such a thing was in my closet.

"Keep it," I replied, shuddering and wondering how it had gotten in my room in the first place. She squealed again and ran out of the room, snatching my Kindle from the desk as she passed. I shut the door behind her, grabbing a pair of black cargo pants and a black tank top from the massive laundry pile on the floor of my closet. The pants were too big, so I had to wear a belt to keep them up. A pair of mismatch socks in hand, I made my way back to the dining room, passing Alissa on my way downstairs. I slipped on some combat boots, not bothering to tie the laces as I entered the garage. Grabbing my archery bag, I set up the targets in the backyard and waited for Alissa.

She came out a few minutes later, walking over and strapping on the armguard I'd just handed her. She smiled at me, the late morning sunlight glinting off of her glasses lens and hitting me right in the eye. I blinked and turned away, handing her my bow. "Like I said, I haven't shot in a while," she told me, selecting an arrow from the quiver at her hip. "So I'm sorry if I fail, okay?" I nodded and smiled back at her, stepping away to give her more room.

She took her position by the old swing set, aiming carefully at the target and drawing back the string. "If you shoot over the fence, you'll have to get it!" I warned. She didn't respond, instead focusing on the target in front of her. Taking a breath, she released the string, sending the arrow flying. It hit the third ring and bounced off, leaving a dent where it had been.

Alissa sighed in frustration, handing the bow and quiver back to me. "I can't even make it stick," she called over her shoulder as she stomped to the target to retrieve the arrow. She laughed. "I guess that just means that I need more practice."

"Don't worry, that used to happen to me all the time. It's because the arrows are so dull, so you have to pull back further if you want to get them to stick," I told her, grabbing an arrow and dropping the quiver on the ground at my feet. Sliding the arrow into place, I waited for Alissa to come back. "Hey, Alissa," I said as she came closer. "Do you remember how I shot three years ago?"

"Yeah," she replied. "You were pretty good. You at least hit the red ring almost every time, and you even got a few shots in the yellow… I think."

I smiled as she stepped to a safe spot behind me, drawing the bowstring to my ear. "Well watch this." I let the arrow fly. With a resounding crack, it embedded itself fletching-deep in the center of the bull's-eye. Alissa stared at the target in disbelief, her jaw actually dropping for a moment before she regained her composure.

"Wow. Somebody's been practicing a lot." She finally commented, continuing to stare at the target. It was at that exact moment that Marissa chose to come out, carrying my Kindle and munching on another donut. Reaching the hammock, she sat down, still chewing on the donut.

"Hey, Marissa," I called, turning to face the brunette. "So glad you could join us. I was just about to show Alissa something cool I've been working on, if you want to see, too." Grabbing my archery bag from its place by a tree, I looked back at Marissa, scowling. "What did I say about the donuts?" I chided, removing a throwing knife from the long black bag. Marissa failed to reply, instead licking the glaze off of her fingers and turning her full attention to the electronic device in her lap.

Alissa's eyes widened when she saw the knife, which I carried carefully by the blade in my right hand. "Nikita, what in the world are you planning on doing with that?" she asked, probably wondering how I'd gotten it in the first place. I just smiled in response, taking up my position a good number of yards from the target. Adjusting my grip on the blade, I flicked the knife at the target. It spun in the air for a bit before firmly lodging itself in the target's inner red ring, only a few millimeters from the yellow in the middle. Alissa stared at it, then at me, completely and utterly shocked. Marissa actually glanced up for a minute and raised an eyebrow, a mildly surprised expression on her face. "How did you do that?" Alissa asked me. "Why do you even have a knife? How often do you practice? When did this start? Why didn't you tell me you could do this before?" The questions seemed to be pouring out of her faster than even Alissa seemed able to process them.

"I, um…" I didn't know which question to answer first.

Alissa, however, didn't even give me the chance. "What do you do with your life?" she asked, throwing her hands up in an exasperated manner. Deciding that that was a rhetorical question and choosing not to answer the others, I went to retrieve my arrow and my knife.

Marissa temporarily looked up from her Minecrafting to respond to Alissa's question. "Well, she definitely has more of a life than either of us now."

"She does not! Maybe she has more of a life than you, but not me. I'm musical! I perform in a ton of concerts and stuff like that. She, on the other hand, does nothing like that," Alissa turned back around to face me. "Not that I'm trying to insult you, Nikita, but you know it's true." She smiled, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"Whatever," I said, shrugging and putting my knife back in the bag. "We've all known for years that you're the smartest and most accomplished of our little group." I rolled my eyes and handed the bow back to Alissa. She continued shooting for somewhere around two, hours, with me standing off to the side giving her tips, and with Marissa sitting comfortably on the rope hammock, lost in the world of Minecraft.

I sat on the crumbling driveway, hours after my friends had left, sipping my vanilla chai tea and watching the sun set. The sky was like a canvas, painted with beautiful oranges, reds, yellows, and even some purple, too. I continued to watch as the sun sank ever lower through the trees and the stars began to come out. I loved the stars, although with all the street lights and air pollution, I couldn't really see all that many. Reaching up, I used my finger to trace the arrow constellation I'd found years ago, along with a few others.

After a few hours of star gazing, I decided that it was time to go back inside. I pushed myself up off of the ground and into a crouch, standing from there and stretching. Grabbing my copy of the house key from one of my pockets, I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Something felt off right away, but I couldn't quite place it. Closing and locking the door behind me, I put the key back in my pocket and scanned the dark entryway, looking for anything out of place. When I found nothing, I sighed and continued to the kitchen, flipping on the lights as I passed. A sudden shiver ran up my spine, and I had the unmistakable feeling that I was being watched.

Turning to look behind me, I saw nothing in the living room or dining room. When I listened, I heard nothing but the soft whimpering of my dog, Marbles, who was locked in the laundry room for the night. Shrugging, I turned to the sink, rinsing out my mug and placing it in the dishwasher. The feeling of being watched stayed, but I ignored it. It was impossible, anyway. Both my parents and my little sister had gone on a trip to the beach, with me opting to stay behind and take care of Marbles, and they weren't supposed to be back for another three days. Nobody else had any access to the house, and I'd have heard from the drive way if someone had broken in. So why was this sudden feeling of fear sweeping through me?

Then I heard a noise directly behind me. It sounded like… a footstep. I froze for a split second, unsure of how to react. Upon hearing a second footstep, I grabbed two of the larger kitchen knives and whirled around, holding them in front of me defensively. There was a men standing in my kitchen. A man I didn't recognize… or did I? He was a few inches taller than me and looked like he was in his early twenties, with slicked back silver hair and pale skin. He wore a black cloak, decorated with red clouds and open enough to see that he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath it. He also had purple eyes, and wore a silver necklace with a symbol that looked like an upside-down triangle inside of a circle. The scariest part was that he had a giant red three-bladed scythe strapped to his back.

I stared in complete and utter disbelief, much like what Alissa had done with me earlier that day. "Hi-Hidan?" I stammered, my hands trembling like crazy. "But you're not real…" It must've been a cosplayer. In my house. With a real scythe. That was the only explanation I could come up with. Hidan was a character from my favorite anime, although he wasn't my favorite character. All I knew was that he was a member of a dangerous terrorist organization called the Akatsuki, he loved violence, and he was immortal. Suddenly, my fear turned to anger. "What kind of a sick, twisted joke is this?" I growled, actually causing the guy to back up a step. "Why the fuck would a burglar, or kidnapper, or murderer, or whatever the hell you are go around dressed as a fucking anime character? What the fuck is your problem?" I asked, waving my knives threateningly. That was the most I'd ever cursed out loud in my life, and I immediately felt somewhat ashamed. If Alissa had heard me saying that, she might've even slapped me. On the other hand, if Marissa had heard me saying that, she would've cheered and told me how proud of me she was.

"What the fuck is an anime character?" the man asked, crossing his arms and scowling. He took a small step towards me, and the fear returned again.

"Take one more step, and this'll end up in your throat!" I threatened, adjusting my grip on the blade in my right hand.

He actually smirked, taking another large step forward so that he was a mere three feet away. "Go ahead," he said, leaning forward ever so slightly. "Do it." He took another step.

Without even thinking about what I was doing, I flicked both knives out of my hands, burying one in his throat and the other in his heart. His body flew backwards into the dining room and lay still, blood pooling on the white tile floors around him. I stood there, rigid, trying to process what I had just done. No sooner had I come to the conclusion that I'd killed him that he sat up, pulling the kitchen knives out of his neck and chest and dropping them with a clatter on the floor beside him. "You bitch!" he screamed at me, trying to stop the blood that was flowing rapidly from his neck. "You fucking bitch! What the fuck was that for? I didn't mean for you to actually throw the fucking knives at me!" He stood, looking down at the wound on his chest.

I couldn't stop staring. I couldn't move, either. "You-you should have died! You should be dead! How are you alive?" I was horrified and disbelieving, but at the same time happy that I hadn't killed him. Although, that didn't change the fact that I had actually just thrown a knife at someone. Two knives. "So you really are Hidan…" I whispered, the sudden realization causing me to back up a step. "So if you really are who I think you are, why the hell are you in my house, and how did you get here?"

"I'm here to kidnap you and bring you back to the fucking hideout," he spat, blood running down his front and dripping to the floor. "And how I got here is none of your damn business."

"W-what?" I stammered, backing up further. "Why would you take me back to the base? What the hell could the Akatsuki possibly want with me?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," he replied, stepping closer until he was only a few inches away. "Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The others are probably already at the portal with your friends."

"Alissa? Marissa? What the hell do you want with them? You're not going to hurt them, are you? Because if you do, I'll fucking kill you!"

"No, we don't plan on doing anything to them just yet," he responded, his eyebrows twitching in annoyance. "But I swear to Jashin, I will seriously hurt you if you don't just shut the fuck up already!" He grabbed me roughly by the hair, dragging me across the tile floor and through the sticky pool of blood. Struggling to reach, I pulled another knife out of my boot and promptly stabbed him in the back of the hand. He let go immediately, clutching his hand and swearing loudly. "Bitch!" he cried, kicking me hard under the chin. I flew backwards, slamming into the dining room table and collapsing on the floor. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was Hidan grabbing my by the waist and slinging me over his shoulder, the bloodstained knife slipping from my fingers and falling to the floor.

Alissa tried to scream again, nearly choking on the gag in her mouth. She pounded her fists on the back of the big ninja who had kidnapped her, trying desperately to free herself. Kisame, of course, was far too strong and far too tough to be even slightly bothered by her vain attempts at escape. In fact, he actually seemed rather amused. He chuckled whenever she tried kicking him or harming him in any other way, telling her that it was no use, and that she may as well give up. Eventually, she did just that.

She had been on the computer when she was kidnapped, laughing quietly at a picture Nikita had drawn making fun of Kisame. Then suddenly he was there, looming in her doorway, a huge and ominous shadow. Had it been any other member of the Akatsuki, (perhaps with the exception of Zetsu, the half-black half-white plant man) she would've had a hard time believing that it was them. But being that her captor had blue skin, blue hair, shark teeth, and gills on his face, she had absolutely no trouble believing that it was actually him.

Alissa had been staying at her dad's house when she had been captured, and Kisame appeared to be taking her in the direction of her mom's. Briefly, the thought crossed her mind that her mom was paying the Akatsuki to bring her to her, but that thought was very quickly banished due to its complete ridiculousness. As it turned out, they were heading to the lake behind her house.

Kisame unceremoniously dumped her onto the ground, binding her hands to the tree behind her with a rope he had been carrying on the handle of Samehada, his living bandaged sword. She sat there, waiting for something to happen. Kisame leaned against a tree, yawning and exposing his razor sharp teeth. He grinned at her, causing her to shiver in fear and turn away. Kisame, the violent shark man who had a taste for chopping his victims' limbs off, was real and standing right beside her. Knowing that the world of Naruto was real excited her, but also filled her with dread. She was, after all, a prisoner of the Akatsuki, the most dangerous group of killers ever in existence. She wondered what they were going to do to her. Lock her away in a cell? Torture her? Experiment on her? Kill her? She had no idea, and she wasn't so sure that she wanted to find out any time soon.

She was startled out of her train of thought when she heard a twig snap to her right. Marissa was walking towards her, gagged, followed by another member of the Akatsuki. Alissa paid no attention to this unknown Akatsuki member, staring instead at Marissa and wondering why he was letting her walk on her own. However, as soon as she saw the boy's mop of scarlet hair, she knew the answer. Chakra strings. Sasori, Marissa's captor, had attached chakra strings to Alissa's friend, effectively turning her into a temporary puppet. He was in complete control of her movements, and Marissa seemed to be staring at herself with a look of mixed wonder and horror on her face.

"Sasori," Kisame said, smirking at the puppet master. "Glad you could make it, although you're a few minutes late. Any idea how Hidan's holding up? I hear he got the violent one." Alissa's eyes grew big and round. Hidan? Hidan went after Nikita? Knowing her, she wouldn't just let herself get kidnapped without a fight, and Hidan was famous for his love of causing others pain. Alissa squeezed her eyes shut, hoping against hope that her friend was okay.

"I don't know," responded Sasori, the impatience in his voice obvious. "And I don't care, as long as he doesn't keep us waiting for long." Sasori must have jinxed it, because they all had to wait an exceptionally long period of time before they heard footsteps.

Hidan trudged into view with Nikita slung unconscious over his shoulder, his breathing labored. As he got closer, Alissa noticed that there was some sort of dark liquid smeared all over his neck and chest, dripping onto the pine needles at his feet as they walked. She nearly choked on her gag again when she realized that it was blood. There was so much blood… but whose was it? It couldn't have been Nikita's, right?

Kisame laughed outright when he saw Hidan's state. "Wow, she really gave you a hard time, didn't she?" he roared, continuing to laugh hysterically. Alissa didn't see what was so funny. Once his laughter had died down a bit, Kisame moved closer to Hidan to inspect him. "You got stabbed in the neck, the hand, and the heart," he observed, turning to examine the girl on the immortal's shoulder. "And all she has is a bruise under the chin. Wow. She did this to you?" he asked, gesturing to the blood that coated the Jashinist. Alissa breathed a sigh of relief. Nikita was okay, then. Mostly.

Hidan nodded in reply, grinning. "Yeah. The bitch did pretty good, for someone who isn't a ninja and has no chakra. Actually," he said, pointing. "The wounds on my neck and chest aren't from being stabbed… she threw her fucking kitchen knives at me!" At this point, Kisame was literally rolling on the floor with laughter. Sasori didn't react. He simply stared at Nikita with a blank expression on his wooden face. Hidan set the girl on the ground, stretching. "Hey, Kisame," he said, nodding. "Do you think you might be able to carry her for me? We could trade." Alissa wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or afraid.

"Sure," Kisame responded, picking up Nikita's still-unconscious body. "Just take the girl's rope and drag her along, if you want." Hidan did just that, undoing the knot on the tree and carrying the free end of the rope in one hand. Alissa felt a little like a slave as they marched to the edge of the lake. Kisame didn't stop at the shore, however. He continued walking out onto the water, with Nikita thrown carelessly over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Hidan didn't pause, either. He just kept on walking, until he was stopped by the rope. Alissa had wrapped it around a small tree, and was refusing to move an inch further.

Hidan turned back to address the problem, Sasori and Marissa passing them as he did so. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, murder in his eyes.

Alissa looked out at the lake, her eyes following her friends as they got closer to the center. Then she looked at Hidan pointedly, glancing down at her gag. He took it off, getting the hint. Finally, she sighed. "You really are an idiot, aren't you?" she said, causing Hidan to bristle. "I mean, come on! You know that the three of us don't possess any chakra, judging from your comment about Nikita earlier, and yet you honestly expect me to go waltzing out onto the surface of a lake with you."

Hidan stared at her for a moment, obviously realizing that her words made sense. He scowled, unwrapping the rope from the tree. "Fine," he muttered. "I guess I'll just have to carry you, then." With that, he picked her up bridal-style and sprinted across the lake to catch up with the others. Needless to say, Alissa felt completely and utterly ridiculous by the time they reached the middle. Sasori glared at them as they approached, his crimson hair falling into his deep brown eyes.

Without saying a word, Kisame pulled a necklace out of his cloak. It was a simple silver necklace, with multiple charms on it. The charms all seemed to be village symbols that Alissa recognized from watching Naruto, with the exception of two. One of the non-village charms was shaped like the clouds that decorated the Akatsuki's cloaks, and the other was shaped almost exactly like the state where the three girls lived. Removing the cloud charm from the chain, he tapped it lightly on the surface of the lake.

Nothing appeared to be happening at first. Then Alissa looked closer and saw that deep down, something was glowing. The light spread until it reached the surface, engulfing the part of the lake that they were standing on. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, Alissa gasped, startled. It was as if she were looking into a whole other world. The image she saw in the lake was like a reflection, but it wasn't. It was as if they were standing on a clear blue sky, with the warm sun beaming up at them through the water. Very slowly, the group began to sink. Lower and lower they went, until they were completely submerged underwater. But curiously enough, Alissa found that she could still breathe. They started towards the surface again, rising up until they stood on the surface of the lake once more. Only it wasn't the same lake.

It was in the middle of the day and the sun was beating down on the group, drying off their clothes sooner than Alissa would've thought possible. Then again, something told her that that wasn't the sun's doing. Hidan put her down when they reached the shore, setting her on the grass and undoing her bonds. He tossed the rope back into the water and roughly pulled Alissa to her feet. "You'd better fucking behave yourself, you hear?" he said, glaring at her and running a hand through his slick silver hair. "And you'd better keep up, too. That is, unless you want to end up like your friend here. I'm sure that she'll have one hell of a headache when she gets up."

Alissa nodded, following along as they began their trek through the forest, doing her best to stay away from Kisame while still sticking with the group. Sasori, too, released the chakra strings that had been attached to Marissa, allowing her to walk alongside Alissa on her own. She did, however, receive a similar warning to the one that Hidan had given the blond. The girls whispered quietly to each other, talking about their captures and how unbelievable the whole mess was.

"I really hope that Nikita is okay," Alissa said at last, allowing her worry for her friend to show a little bit. "I mean, Hidan can't have been happy about what she did to him. I wonder what he did to knock her out for this long exactly, anyway." The girls continued to discuss their theories about what had happened with their friend and the Jashinist for a while, eventually running out of ideas and moving on to different topics, the most popular one being what was going to happen to them when they reached the Akatsuki hideout.

They all walked through the forest for hours on end, not stopping for any reason. After a long while, Alissa and Marissa both grew so tired that they had to be carried again. The sun gradually sank lower and lower in the sky, until finally it began to disappear beyond the horizon. As the sun went down, it set both the sky and the woods around them on fire. "It's beautiful." Alissa whispered to herself, staring around her in wonder. At this comment, Sasori, who was walking beside her and Hidan, scowled.

Once the sun had completed its journey across the sky, Kisame signaled for them to stop. "I think that this is a good place for us to stop for the night," he said, leaning Nikita against a tree. "We'll rest here, and continue in the morning. Sasori will keep watch, since he doesn't sleep, anyway." Sasori nodded in response, jumping up into the tree above them and staying there on the lowest branch.

Hidan turned to the girls, both of his hands resting on the back of his head. "Don't you bitches even think about trying to run away. If you do, Leader might even let me torture you as punishment."

Marissa had already fallen asleep, curled up on a soft bed of moss. "Hidan," Alissa replied, yawning. "Does it seriously look like we're anywhere near in the condition to attempt an escape?" With that, she lay down beside her friend, falling asleep almost instantly.


End file.
